Crouse big mouth barge skimmer

ABSTRACT

This is a oil skimming barge  107  with the optional front end  111  and intake area  110  at the stern  203  of the barge skimmer  107,  whereby oil  101  is funnel into the intake area  110,  then suctioned to collection tanks  120  where the oil separates from the water using basically gravity with the help of equipment than can be added, and then the water  102  is pumped or drained overboard while a higher concentration of oil  101  remains or gets pumped into the main collection tanks.

RELATION TO PRIOR APPLICATION

This non-provisional patent application is based on and claims thebenefit of the prior provisional application, U.S. Ser. No. 61/397,214filed on date: Jun. 07, 2010.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of The Invention

This is a non-provisional utility patent for a new invention, for aBarge Oil Skimmer, which is for use in the oil spill response and or oilspill clean-up or collection/skimming industry; and it shall be usablefor use in cleaning up oil spills in any body of water where applicable.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

This is a non-provisional utility patent application for a Barge Skimmer107, called the Crouse Big Mouth Barge Skimmer (referred to as BargeSkimmer in this application) which is a new invention that can be usedin the oil spill clean-up and or response industry. The Barge Skimmercan be used by itself or alongside other response measures, equipment,and or techniques to clean up oil spills in any body of water such as:oceans, rivers, lakes, marshes, swamps, ditches, canals, etc. The BargeSkimmer 107 can be used to skim or collect oil floating on the surfaceof the water; and it can be used to keep or contain the oil while usingprocedures, equipment added, and or gravity inside the collection tanksalong with pumps, drains, and piping on or in the Barge Skimmer in a wayto separate the oil from the water so that a higher concentration of oilis contained while a cleaner and more pure water is returned to theocean, river, lake, etc. Additional equipment may be added to the bargeso to further enhance the water and oil separation after initialskimming.

For this application, the term ‘oil’ will be used to describe oil and orany contaminant having a specific gravity less than 1.0.

Recent spills and mishaps have led to search for new and better methodsto clean up oil spills. Other tools and equipment currently used, suchas dispersant, can actually do more much harm to the environment thanthey are meant to solve. There are obvious deficiencies in the effortsused to date. Therefore, the need exists for adding new options andbetter oil spill clean-up equipment to the overall list of equipment andor techniques. A fleet of Barge Skimmers 107 has the possibility ofcollecting all the oil from the water after and or during a large spill,for example, from a deep ocean oil well which may spew out more than60,000 barrels of oil per day. By having these skimmers available andready, dispersant should be a last resort instead of a first.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART

In response to previous oil spills, the oil companies have used what isreferred to as a ‘dispersant’ to contain or control the oil. Dispersantsare usually spread by a airplane and or sprayed from ships. Dispersantsare usually a liquid soap or other types of chemicals which can mend tothe oil so that the oil forms clumps. The clumps then sink below thesurface so that visibly on the surface, the problem looks as if it hasbeen solved, and the mess doesn't look so bad to the reporters filmingthe area. In the case for the deep ocean wells most common off thecoastline of the United States, in the Gulf area (such as the where thedeep ocean well platforms are located) the water surrounding the area isso deep that the clumps only fall below the surface to a certain point.Then, because of the high possible amounts of oil and dispersant mixed,it can get into the fish habitat and environmentally sensitive areassuch as: reefs, wetlands, breeding areas, river entrances, swamps,marshes, etc. This can then cause more harm than the actual oil itself,had it all just been left alone. The chemicals used for the dispersantshave also been known to cause respiratory ailments in the workerssurrounding areas where the dispersants have been spread. In previousspills, in the areas where the dispersants have been spread, the surfaceevaporation has caused the chemicals to rise up in the air in which theworkers are breathing. This has sent workers to the hospital, and it hasled to the workers having to wear actual gas masks as they work in theheat while cleaning up the oily water. There are many unknowns relatedto the dispersants. Some of the unknowns are the current, short, medium,and long term effects of the chemicals on the fish and or any wetlandsin the regions. Because the dispersants are usually spread by airplanes,there are also concerns for the birds and other flying species in thearea as well.

Skimming techs and or equipment have also been used for oil spillresponse, and skimming is still needed and very useful. The skimmingtechs usually consist of using deeper hulled vessels and trolling withor pulling a ‘J shaped’ Boom, ‘V shaped’ boom, or ‘teardrop shaped’ boomso that the booms help funnel the oil at the base of the (for example)‘V’; and then the oil is suctioned out using some kind of throw pumpwhich is tossed by the crew into the boom area. The pump sucks the oilfrom the water into containers in or on the vessels. Skimming is a goodand often environmentally friendly way to clean the oil from thesurface, however with the current vessels there are some places that thebooming cannot be done or operate in due to the deeper hulls on thevessels and or high wave conditions. Also, there is a limited amount ofoil that each vessels can take in.

When large spills happen, it often calls for hundreds or even thousandsof ships to skim for oil. New types of skimming vessels are needed thatcan take in more oil, faster, and more efficiently. And, new vessels andor new equipment are needed that have more shallow drafts which allowsthem go into more shallow waters, environmentally sensitive areas, andor swamps, marshes, near shoreline and shoreline areas, etc. to getpockets of oil. Additionally, the large super skimmers have too deep ofa draft, and because of it they are not as effective in certain areas.The deep hulled and deep draft super skimmers are often used with aintake in the front where they take a big ‘gulp’ of the incoming oil andthen the oil falls or is suctioned, etc. into collection tanks insidethe vessel. These super skimmer can hold a tremendous amount of oil, butthey are difficult to maneuver and they are dangerous to other vesselsin the area. This non-provisional patent application will show bettermore suited vessels which can hold large amounts of oil, they havesimilar intake ability, but they are more nimble and can even go inshallow waters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

DRAWING 1 Shows a starboard 205 view of different sizes of barges whichcan be converted into barge skimmers 107.

DRAWING 2 Shows a overhead view of the Barge Skimmer 107 being towed bya tug 300.

DRAWING 3 Shows a overhead view of the same Barge Skimmer 107 from theprevious drawing skimming with the rear or stern 203 becoming the frontend 111 while using the tow/tugboats 300 to funnel oil 101 into theintake area 110.

DRAWING 4 is a view as if you were looking into the Stern 203 area whichbecomes the Front End 111 and intake area 110 for the barge skimmingoperations.

DRAWING 5 shows the rear, slightly overhead and right side view of thebarge, which becomes the front end 111 and left side view when skimming.This also shows the top where two tanks 120 for collection andseparation are located, as well as hoist 412 and suction 104 equipment.

DRAWING 6 shows a see through left side view of the barge intake 110 andcollection area. It also shows the main holding tank 120 (B), as well asupper separation tanks 120 (A) and other equipment are located.

DRAWING 7 shows a overhead see through the body of the barge view ofcollection areas, collection tanks, intake area, etc.

DRAWING 8 shows a left side, see through the body view of the bargeSkimmer intake 110 and first stage collection, and it also shows somesuction/pump equipment and other collection tanks where water dischargeand the main oil storage tank is located.

DRAWING 9 shows a overhead left side view of the skimmer.

DRAWING 10 shows a side view of three barges off-loading into a supertanker.

DRAWING 11 shows a see through left side view of a barge skimmer 107internal tank 120.

DRAWING 12 shows a overhead view of a barge skimmer 107 being pulledforward using booms 777 and tugs/towboats to both pull and funnel theoil into the collection intake area 110.

DRAWING 13 shows a overhead view of a Barge Station 200 where a supertanker 308 is suctioning out the collected oil. It also shows a bargeskimmer 107 headed to a Barge Station 200 to offload.

DRAWING 14 shows a see through the body of the barge skimmer 107 view ofa method of internal water and oil separation so to make the collectionmethod, as well as water discharge better and more efficient.

DRAWING 15 shows rear view looking into the rear of the barge but thefront of the skimmer. It also shows the barge skimmer having the optionof a single pipe 178 collection intake area 110.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

This is a non-provisional utility patent application for a new type ofbarge skimmer 107. Though there have been barge skimmers before, nonehave worked quite like this one. This barge skimmer 107 is meant forefficient collection and containment of oil 101 which helps in overalleffectiveness in oil collection. This barge differs from existing bargeskimmer in the intake 110 area on the front end 111 of the bargeskimmer, which is the rear end or stem 203 of the barge. Though thistype of rigging can be placed on the Stem 203 or Bow 202, the drawingsin this application will present a front end 111 collection intake whichuses the whole area of the front end 111 of the skimmer to help funnelthe oily water into a bulkhead, where the oil on the surface spills overinto a collection tank 120, and then vacuum pumping systems 104 pump theoily water into another collection tank 120 where the oil and waterseparation process begins. In the tank(s), the lighter oil 101 rises tothe top while the heavier water 120 sinks to the bottom. After the oiland water separate within the tanks (equipment and several techniqueslater discussed can be used to enhance separation of oil and water) adrain 151 or plug is opened, which connects a hose or pipe 150 to thebottom of the collection tanks 120, and the water is let out leaving ahigher concentration of oil 101 in the tanks. The oil 101 can beseparated and suctioned at close to a 90 plus percent oil vs. waterratio, where the remaining oil is then pumped into the main holdingtanks where the oil can even be further separated from the water usingvarious pieces of optional equipment which can be added. The equipmentthat can be added, such as: oil centrifuge equipment 105, vacuums/pump104, water cooling systems (not shown), air bubble pipes 132 andsystems, etc. can help to further ‘tailor’ the desired outcome for bothreturning a cleaner water while collecting a higher concentration ofoil.

If the oil is collected fast enough, so that is doesn't sit on the watertoo long and become saturated or mixed with dispersant, then thecollected out can be skimmed, collected, and possible still used forsome purpose. If so, the collected oil can be skimmed and sold to offsetthe cost of collection and clean-up operations. This would also give aresponse worker the incentive to work harder in collection, as well asdo better in containment.

Drawing 1 shows three of the many size options for the barge skimmer107. This just shows simple ocean barges of the larger size of 300 to400 feet long, around 100 feet wide, and 20 feet deep. Then it shows themedium sized barge skimmer of 180 feet long, around 72 feet wide and 12to 16 feet deep. The drawing also shows a smaller 40 to 60 foot longskimmer that can be from 20 to 12 feet wide and only 6 to 8 feet deep.The depth of the barges are listed from bottom of the keel to the deck,but the drafts in water are much less and can be somewhat adjusted whilein the water. A super large 300 to 400 foot barge has enormous holdingcapacity, but it only has around a 6 to 8 foot draft, which means it canoperate in more shallow waters than deep hulled skimmers half its size.The smaller barges can operate in 3 foot of water. This drawing is meantto show the overall capacity, size, and the low draft. The flat bottomgives the ability to easily turn and maneuver as well. This also meansthat you can skim all the way from a deep water spill to near the bankor shoreline so that less dispersant is needed. These drawings also showthe bow 202 and stem 203. The drawing shows the Skag 201 which is at thestem 203 of the barge, which aids in direction control (but it alsobecomes a part of the front end 111 when skimming and aids in directioncontrol when the barge skims going backwards through the water) when thebarge is moving.

Once the spill or oil slick 101 has been spotted, and the spillcoordinator provides the details and or GPS coordinates to the skimmerfleet, as in Drawing 2, a towboat/tug 300 pulls or pushes the Barge tothe position best suited for skimming. Drawing 2 just shows atugboat/towboat 300 pulling a barge skimmer 107 to the proper spilllocation. The tug/tow 300 is pulling the Barge bow 202 forward, but whenthe skimming begins, this barge skimmer 107 will be skimming stem first203 or basically going rear first through the water where the skags andrear design act as the front end 111 and funnels the oil into a bulkheadwhere the surface oil spills over into a collection area. Once in thecollection area, vacuum/pumps 104 located near the stem 203 pump the oilfrom the first holding tank (not shown) into the tanks 120 (A) and from120 (A) to 120 (B) where both act to help separate the oil. If needed,slosh kits (not in drawing) may put in the tank to keep the water fromsplashing about too much and mixing the water while the boat is movingor at sea. Also, other equipment may be added to the tanks 120 (A) and120 (B) to help separate the oil and water in these areas. Some examplesare: coolant systems, air bubble techs 132, more salt, netting, oilcentrifuge equipment 105, etc. From these tanks, the cleaner water atthe bottom of the tank can simply be let out or pumped out using simpledrains and plugs at the bottom of the tank(s) while the oil from the topcan be suctioned into the larger containment tanks inside the main hullarea.

Drawing number 3 shows the same barge or similar barge as in Drawing 2,but this barge has become a barge skimmer 107 by using the stem 203 asthe front end 111 whereby it leads the way for the barge. Two tugboats300 (B) and 300 (C) are pulling the barge skimmer 107 through the waterusing booms 777 (A) and (B) which act as giant funnels to funnel the oilfrom the top of the water into the front end 111 or intake area 110 ofthe Barge Skimmer 107. From the collection point, the next step is tosuction the oil from the Intake area 110 to the rear tank 120 (A) and120 (B). These tanks hold a 50/50 water vs. oil ratio to a 60/40 oil vs.water ratio. The water goes to the bottom, as stated, where it is pumpedout overboard. Oil Centrifuge equipment 105, vacuum/pumps 104, andgenerators 106 have been added as options, to help the water/oilseparation at this point, but it is not really necessary unless desired.

Drawing 4 shows the stern 203 becoming the bow 202 as the barge becomesthe skimmer. This is a front end 111 and intake area 110. There can beany number of Skag 201 A through F, which act to help guide the BargeSkimmer, keeping it straight as it skims, and they have provided aintake and skimming area for which is set, in this drawing to slide justunder the surface of the water so that the oil 101 funneled into thebulkhead is mostly oil skimmed from the top of the water. From thisIntake area 110, the part 151 provides a place where pipes and or hosescan be placed to suction the oily water from this area and into rearcollection tanks 120.

Drawing 5 shows another rear view or stern 203 of the barge, but thatbecomes the Front End of the skimmer. This is very similar to theprevious picture. This drawing shows many more skags 201 have beenadded. There can be many locations in the Intake Area 110 where the oilywater can be suctioned out from pipes or hoses 150 inserted from deckarea. However, most drawings just show one. In this drawing, hose 150(A) is the location where the hose suctions the oily water from theintake.

Drawing 6 shows a see through the left side of the skimmer 107. The oil101 comes into the barge skimmer 107 front end 111 into the intake area110 where the oily sludge enters a pipe 178 and spills over into acollection tank 120 (C). From the tank 120 (C), the pipe 151 (A) sucksthe water/oil mix out via hose 150 (A) and vac/pump unit 104 and throughhose 150 (B) into a collection 120 (A) where the oil and waterseparation begins. At this point, the smaller barges may use their maintanks for this, but the larger barges may have several upper deck tankssimilar to 120 (A). As the water goes to the bottom and oil to the top,the water is let out via drain 151 (B) through and out of pipe 150 (C)so that it simply is drained out. As the drain opens, a vortex of wateris created at the lower part of the tank which lets the fish andturtles, etc. back out overboard. Also, excluders can be put on thehoses and pipes at any location to make sure that there are barriers toprevent fish and sea life from entering. Once the water is let out, theoil left is then pumped into the main collection tank 120 (B) which isin the hull of the vessel 107. Again, for smaller vessels 107, thepumping of water from tank to tank is just for water and oil separationso to increase efficiency. The smaller skimmers may use their main tanksfor all the water and oil separation options. The smaller skimmers mayuse equipment added also to enhance the water and oil separation.

Drawing 7 shows a see through the barge overhead view of the BargeSkimmer 107 having a Intake 110 area with two intake pipe location 178(A) and (B). The workings are similar to the previous drawing where theoily water is pumped from the intake 110 tank 120 (A) via 150 (A) totank 120 (B) which the pumps the oil and water into tank 120 (C) wherethe separation of oil and water can be assisted using air bubbles, orother techniques. The water is let out via drain 151 (A) from bottom ofthe tank while the oil is pumped into tank 120 (D). The oil may have togo through oil centrifuge 105 through pumps 104 ran by generators 106 onthe deck also to further separate the water and oil

Drawing 8 shows another similar see through side view as drawing 6, butthis differs slightly at the intake 110 where a protruding slide 165 israised and or lowered to assist in fine tuning the skimming at theinitial stages. This is a option which can be added to all the skimmers.The hoist 412 operates the wedge shaped intake so that it helps tofunnel less water and more oil into the first collection tanks. Thewedge can have tiny holes drilled into it to let only water but not oilpass through so that when slightly lifted only oil enters. Again, thisis a options. This whole wedge area can be a add-on, and it can even bea Netting or fabric like material.

Drawing 9 shows the intake 110 at front end 111 having a wedgedfunnel-like intake so that all the oil enters into one area where theremay be one or more pipes 178 having the ability to allow the oil sludgeto fall into the collection area. In this collection area, there is apipe 179 where the oil spills over and gravity takes all the spilledover oil water into the mouth of a vacuum 104 unit hose 150 (A) so thatall the incoming sludge gets sucked into rear tanks for separation andstorage.

Drawing 10 shows barge skimmers 107 A, B, and C off-loading theirskimmed oil into a tanker which should be or may be on stand by duringspill operations so that the barge skimmers can empty and then go backto work. This just shows a option for a more efficient clean up processusing the barge skimmers.

Drawing 11 shows a see through the barge side view of what takes placeinside a typical barge skimmer 107 collection tank 120. The heavierwater 102 goes to the bottom while the lighter oil 101 goes to the top(especially in salt water). The drain at location 151 is simply opened,and it creates a vortex of water which shoots out the pipe 150. Thisdrawing just shows one tank, and that may be the only option for thesuper small barges, but the large barges will have several tanks so thatthe final percentage of oil held will be nearly 98% oil and around 02%water.

Drawing 12 shows towboats/tugs 300 A and B pulling the barge skimmer 107through the water using the booms 777 to funnel the oil 101 into the BigMouth or intake area 110 of the Barge; and in this case the intake areais at the bow 201 instead of the stem 203.

Drawing 13 shows another similar drawing as drawing 10. In this drawing,barge skimmer 107 (D) is going to off-load at Barge Station 200. Also inthis drawing, the Barge Station has more fuel in containers onboard,etc. Also, the super tanker 308 (A) is suctioning oil from the 107 (C)barge of the Barge Station 200. Having stations set up like this out inthe water increases efficiency, but it is shown just as a option.

Drawing 14 shows another see through generic view inside a barge skimmerholding tank 120 where, in this drawing, a Air Bubble Pipe 132 is at thebottom and pumping air bubbles 133 from the bottom of tank 120 makingthe lighter oil go to the top and the heavier water go to the bottom.This makes the water which will be let out from drain 150 cleaner. Thisis just another option for adding additional techniques for cleaning orseparating the oil and water.

Drawing 15 shows s look into the intake area 110 view of a smaller bargeskimmer 107 whereby the intake is shaped so to help funnel all theincoming oil into one single bulkhead where the pipe 178 allows the oilto spill over and into the internal tank area so to be suctioned out atpipe location 151 through hose 150 via vacuum 104 powered by dieselgenerator 106. This is just one more example of the rear set-up intakearea 110 covering the Stern 203 of the barge skimmer 107.

In no way do the drawings represent all the possible options for addinga certain number of tanks 120, vacuums 104, centrifuges 105, generators106, etc. This equipment was drawn and or shown in the drawings asoptions that make the barge skimmer more efficient. Because the decks ofthe barges are so large, a numerous and or a plurality of equipment maybe added, and in any arrangement or design for many arrangements arepossible. This patent allows for any number of vacuum equipments pipes,hoses, tanks, etc. to be added and or used to increase thetailoring-ability of any of the skimmers so that they increase theefficiency of the skimming, the cleanliness of the water extracted fromthe oily water intake, and for increasing the oil concentration orpureness of the oil contained. The barges can be made in any size.

II. A new type of oil skimming Barge Skimmer Vessel 107, that can moveor get pulled or tugged bow 202 first to a location or GPS point wherethe oil skimming begins, and (a.) the stem can become the front end 111which leads the way once skimming starts so that oil can be collected inhigh quantities through a Intake 110 opening at one end of the bargestem 203, called the intake area 110, (b.) having a bow 202 with theoption of having the same front end 111 that becomes and remains thefront end 111 and becoming the location where the intake area 110 islocated, (c.) whereby the oil 101 is funneled into the intake area 110and skimmed using the shaped front end so that the skimmed oilytop-water sludge enters or spills over into the intake collection area,(d.) where oil is suctioned into other tanks 120 having the ability toadd equipment on or to the barge skimmer to assist in separating the oilfrom the water so that cleaner water can be pumped or drained back outwhile a higher concentration of oil remains in the containment tanks,the equipment may be but is not limited to the following: heatingsystems, cooling systems, oil centrifuge equipment 105, vacuums 104,generators 106, adding more salt or clean water, etc. to enhance theseparation of oil and water, (e.) or whereby gravity may acts toseparate the water 102 from the oil 101 inside the tanks, (f.) where adrain can be opened and the cleaner water can be pumped or drained fromthe bottom of the collection tank and overboard at a higher degree ofcleanliness, (g.) which leaves a higher concentration of mainly oilinside the tanks so that the oil can be contained in the main tanks in avery high concentration with the possibility that it can still be usedfor some purpose, thereby sold to offset the clean-up cost, (h.) thusincreasing overall efficiency in the collection and containment process,II. A barge skimmer that be built in many different sizes, having, (a.)large 400 to 300 foot skimmers that are close to 100 feet wide, (b.)medium sized skimmers from 250 to 180 feet long and 72 to 90 feet wide.(c.) having smaller skimmers 40 to 60 feet long and over around 20 feetwide, (d.) having the ability to add equipment to separate oil fromwater to increase effective water drainage and oil containmentoperations on any size, (e.) all having shallow drafts and flat bottomsto increase the maneuverability and to enhance environmental safety,III. A barge skimming vessel that can be tailored to specifications forwater cleanliness for the water which is collected with the oil andbeing pumped overboard, as well as to be tailored for the collection andcontainment of a concentration of oil inside the containment tanks 120,by adding the following optional equipment, (a.) using extra tanks sothat gravity is used to separate the oil from water whereby the lighteroil 100 goes to the top while the heavier water 102 goes to the bottomof the tank, and or the water and oil separation steps can be carriedout using more than one tank in steps to create a higher concentrationof oil contained while a cleaner water can be pumped or drained backinto the body of water after separation, (b.) having the ability to addtechs such as a air bubble 133 creating techs inside the tanks 120 topush the oil to the top while the water at the bottom is cleaned a extrastep and the oil is also contained in a higher concentration, (c.)having the option of adding oil centrifuge equipment 105 and or tanks tospin water and oil to separate the oil and water so that the water canbe cleaned an extra step before the water it is pumped overboard and orto better separate the oil before it is contained, (d.) having theoption of heating or cooling the oil and water inside the containmenttanks to enhance the water and oil separation technique, (e.) having theability to uses hoses and pipes 150 and vacuums pumps 104 to pump inclean water taken from the deeper water to be used in the process forwater and oil separation, (f.) having the ability to add slosh kitsinside the tanks so to keep them from mixing about when the skimmer isin high waves, (g.) having the ability to add any piece, type, or numberof pieces of equipment so help in the separation process of oil andwater, (h.) having the ability to add booms to the front end to helpfunnel more oil into the intake and skimming area, (i.) having theability for numerous intake spill over pipes to speed collections andskimming, (j.) having the ability to use a long slide net to slide underthe surface of the water and out in front of the intake area a to helpin the skimming, etc.